When Francisco Madero began a
coup against Porfiro Diaz in 1910, it set off a reaction that spun Mexican
government out of control. Madero was assassinated in another coup in 1913 led
by General Victoriano Huerta, and the chaos invited numerous others to join
with their own violent bids for rule. The United States of America's southern
neighbor became destabilized, threatening American interests there. Attempting
to stymie the spread of violence, the United States placed a weapons embargo
upon Mexico enforced by US warships. This action proved only to aggravate the
situation as nine American sailors (who did not speak Spanish) that went ashore
in Huerta-held, Constitutionalist-besieged Tampico were arrested by Mexican
soldiers (who did not speak English) thinking it was a raid. The fiasco ended
US-Mexican diplomacy.
Around noon,
fighting began in the town with a stand at the rail yard, which was the signal
for an uprising from around the town that had been organized by Commodore
Manuel Azueta. When he had heard of General Victoriano Maass preparing a
retreat of the Mexican forces in the face of American Marines, Azueta broke
military form to relieve Maass of command and arrest him. The quiet as the
Americans had come ashore was a feint, and they found themselves suddenly
assaulted by Mexican irregulars armed with Mausers as well as bands of Mexican
soldiers leading a general charge.
American Rear
Admiral Frank Fletcher organized a relief force and sent it to shore, but the
constant Mexican small arms fire made any headway impossible. Finally he
resorted to heavy bombardment, covering the retreat of marines and sailors. The
bombardment continued until that night, when more American ships and marines
from Panama arrived, where the canal project was nearing completion. At dawn,
the Americans again attempted to establish a beachhead and were again driven
back as the ruined buildings proved even better cover for the defending Mexican
forces than empty urban streets. Mexicans celebrated despite a heavy loss of
life, including Commodore Azueta’s son Jose, who famously gave a rallying cry
while defending the Escuela
Naval Militar alongside more than one
hundred cadets, “If an American enters my house, I will either kill him or me!” In the end, the American fleet merely
established a blockade, turning the Ypiranga back, and left the city with its wrecked harbor.
The military
fiasco quickly became a political one. Latin American countries balked at what
they considered an overbearing United States, especially Argentina, Brazil, and
Columbia, the “ABC Powers.” A conference was held in Bogota that not only gave
a collective voice to the many countries south of the United States but also
began to resolve the Mexican Revolution by recognizing Carranza and his
Constitutionalists. The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine that had
encouraged American intervention was declared to be as distrusted as European intrusion.
Americans were chased out of many Latin American countries and came to refugee
centers in San Diego and New Orleans to start new lives.
Americans were humiliated at their battlefield loss and
quickly blamed Wilson, who lost much of his support in Congress. Secretary of
the Navy Josephus Daniels attempted to save face by emphasizing the bravery of
the soldiers and ordering fifty-six Medals of Honor for the battle (half as
many as was presented in the entire Spanish-American War). Marine Major Smedley
Butler did not believe he had earned his medal and attempted to refuse it;
Daniels returned with an order that he wear it at all public events.
Wilson narrowly lost the 1916 presidential election with
voters instead turning to Republican Charles Hughes, who promised to bolster
the military preparedness of America. The US Navy worked to defend American
lives at sea, and the Army was put into practice chasing Pancho Villa after his
raids of the Southwest. With so much nervousness from being weak at home and
facing a unified front from the ABC Powers, Hughes discouraged Congress toward
war after the release of the Zimmerman Telegraph, which served to expand the
gulf that had been built up between the United States and the rest of the
Western Hemisphere.
After the end of World War I, the United States turned
toward European and Pacific markets and avoided expanding trade with Latin American
countries outside of Panama. Issues with Japan became increasingly problematic
as it expanded into China, where America had established markets. When war
broke out in Europe in 1939, it was an opportunity for the United States to use
its extensive military, which had continued to expand since 1916, in a decisive
early strike against the Japanese naval forces at Okinawa.
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In reality, the Mexican army did not participate in the
Battle of Veracruz, which was quickly ended in American favor. The ABC Powers hosted
the Niagara Falls Peace Conference, easing the diplomatic tension and
persuading the United States to return the port that November. The occupation
of Veracruz would be one of many in the “Banana Wars” before the Good Neighbor
policy was adopted in 1934.
